OWAIN BROGYNTYN (fl. 1180), Welsh chieftain, was a natural son of Madog ap Maredudd [q. v.] His mother is said to have been a daughter of the 'Black Reeve' of Rug in Edeyrnion. He took his name from the fortress of Porkington, near Oswestry, which was in Madog's hands during the troubles of the reign of Stephen, and was then known to the Welsh as Brogyntyn. The nature of his connection with the place is uncertain ; if at any time he held it, he did not transmit it to his descendants. Owain succeeded to two of the districts ruled over by his father — viz. Dinmael and Edeyrnion. From a manuscript in the Sebright collection, quoted in the 'Archæologia Cambrensis' (1st ser. i. 105), he appears to have borne rule for a time in Penllyn also. The 'Wenhewm' which he gave to the monks of Basingwerk (see David's confirmation of the grant, dated 1240, in Dugdale, Monast. Angl. v. 263) may have been Gwern hefin, near Bala. Owain married : 1. Sioned, daughter of Hywel ap Madog ap Idnerth, by whom he had no issue; 2. Marred, daughter of Einion ab Seisyll of Mathafarn, by whom he had three sons, Gruffydd, Bleddyn (for whom see Rymer, Fœdera, i. 76, ed. 1839), and Iorwerth. His posterity long had rights of lordship in Dinmael and Edeyrnion.
[Dwnn's Heraldic Visitations of Wales, ii. 109 ; A. N. Palmer in Cymmrodor. x. 38-42 ; Powel's Historic of Cambria, reprint of 1811, p. 153.]
OWAIN CYVEILIOG or Owain ab Gruffydd (d. 1197), prince of Powys, was the son of Gruffydd ap Maredudd, brother of Madog ap Maredudd [q. v.], prince of Powys. He was, it is said, the offspring of an irregular union of his father with Gwervyl, daughter of Urgen ab Howel. In 1159 Owain and his brother Meurig received from their uncle Madog, then ruling over Powys, the district of Cyveiliog, a region including most of the middle valley of the Dovey, and corresponding to the western portions of the modern Montgomeryshire. Owain remained so closely connected with Cyveiliog that he derived from it his ordinary descriptive name, which effectually distinguished him from his rival, Owain ab Gruffydd, called Owain Gwynedd [q. v.] Madog died in 1160, and his son Llywelyn being slain immediately afterwards, Owain succeeded to the lordship of all Powys. In the first years of his reipi Owain continued his uncle's general policy of alliance with the English against his dangerous neighbour and rival, Owain Gwynedd. But the growing pressure of the Norman marchers, backed up by Henry I, seems to have caused Owain to alter his policy; and in 1165 he joined Owain Gwynedd and the Lord Rhys of South Wales [see Rhys ab Gruffydd] in their resistance to Henry II's invasion during that summer. Most of the fighting took place in Powys, and Henry II withdrew, beaten by the elements and want of food as much as by the enemy, and never ventured on another Welsh campaign. The alliance between the two Owains was continued for some time. In 1166 they drove out their former ally, Iorwerth Goch, from his territory in Mochnant, and divided that district between them. But in 1167 the allies quarrelled, and Owain Gwynedd joined with Rhys of South Wales against Owain Cyveiliog, though the prince of Powys had married Rhys's daughter. Their joint forces invaded Powys, took possession of Caereineon and Talawern, and put Owain to flight. The lord of Powys now fell back on his old friends the marchers. He soon reappeared in company with a 'French' army, won back the lands he had lost, and destroyed the new castle which his foes had built in Caereineon. War continued between Owain Cyveiliog and Rhys. In 1171 Rhys again invaded Powys, and forced Owain to surrender seven hostages for his good behaviour. But a quieter time now followed in Wales. Davydd, prince of Gwynedd [see Davydd I], Owain Gwynedd's son and successor, was Henry II's son-in-law. The Lord Rhys had become the king's 'justice in South Wales.' Henry found it wisest to leave the Welsh princes pretty much to themselves, and they on their part found it prudent to recognise his supremacy. Power in Wales was, moreover, so divided that no single Welsh prince had much chance of winning great triumphs over his neighbours. Owain accordingly continued in his dependence on Henry II. Constant intercourse between Owain and his overlord led to a good deal of personal friendliness between them; and Giraldus Cambrensis tells a story how, when dining with the king at Shrewsbury, Owain found means of covertly rebuking his overlord for his habit of keeping benefices long vacant in order to enjoy the custody of their temporalities (Opera, vi. 144-5). In May 1177 he attended the great council at Oxford, at which
